.): Mr. Speaker, last December the government offered the provinces and territories the possibility of extending the Canada infrastructure works program for another year. Since that offer, nine provinces, except Ontario, have agreed to continue this successful program to build infrastructure and create jobs in their communities.

The Canada infrastructure works program allows municipalities to set priorities for projects. It is a grassroots approach to government which involves local elected officials who know what is best for their communities.

Our government and the provinces respect the municipalities as equal participants in the program.

As a former mayor, I encourage the Government of Ontario to involve local governments in the decision making process. The issue is jobs and the enhancement of community life. I hope that the Government of Ontario will not let this opportunity go.

Mr. Speaker, the fishery has never been in such poor shape as since the Liberals came to power in Ottawa.

Successive fisheries ministers have managed only to lower fishing quotas, shorten seasons, reduce the size of fleets, slow down processing plants, and manage the resource to the advantage of fishermen from Newfoundland, the province from which, furthermore, all the Liberal Party's fisheries ministers have come.

I am not asking this government to bring back the missing fish, but to reverse the power play by which the Liberal government took over management of the fishery from Quebec in July 1983. Quebec had handled this responsibility perfectly well since 1922. Quebec's fishermen will never be well served by Ottawa, which takes no account whatsoever of their opinions and their needs.

I am certain that, until such time as it attains sovereignty, Quebec has all the expertise necessary to handle this responsibility successfully.

Mr. Speaker, the truth is out. Rather than fulfilling its red book promise to provide honest, more accountable government, Liberal patronage is alive and well, in fact, working overtime.

While armouries across the country are being considered for closure, the Prime Minister's canoe museum in Shawinigan will now be matched by a government funded hotel and a large new armoury.

Nor will the Deputy Prime Minister miss out on Liberal election largesse. Hamilton will receive a new naval reserve building. Not to be outdone when it comes to pork-barrelling, the health minister's Nova Scotia riding receives a new naval reserve complex.

Our reserves play a vital role in the military and social fabric of Canada and deserve our support, but is it not strange that all six new armouries or naval reserve facilities are going to Liberal ridings?

The shutdown of the Somalia inquiry to prevent scrutiny of high level defence involvement, the buying of political favour with taxpayer money and a host of broken red book promises prove that the Liberals have not and will not provide honest, good government.

Mr. Speaker, Quebec's maple syrup industry has modernized its image and set its sights on outside markets.

Quebec alone accounts for 90 per cent of Canadian production, of which 80 per cent, it is estimated, is consumed outside the country. Last year, the industry exported over 20,200 tonnes of maple syrup, 4 per cent more than in 1995, to 32 countries.

During the same period, the value of these exports jumped to $97 million, a 20 per cent increase, and in just four years the value of exports has almost doubled, rising to 84 per cent, an average annual increase of 22 per cent.

These results are attributable to the revitalized methods being adopted by longstanding producers, and the emergence of a series of new and very dynamic enterprises, with different approaches and products, that are targeting a much broader range of niche markets than ever before.

Nova Scotia trying to resurrect support for a party the voters rightly repudiated in 1993.

He has a tough job ahead of him. The voters in Nova Scotia remember well the legacy of that last Tory government, a government of which he was a part: higher unemployment, higher taxes, government finances out of control, missed deficit targets, scandal after scandal. He hopes Nova Scotians will forget. They will not.

The election has not been called and the Tory platform has already been discredited. Their numbers do not add up. Nova Scotians know that a party fighting for the right wing Reform vote in the rest of Canada is not a party that can be trusted in Atlantic Canada.

The people in Nova Scotia know that the Liberals have delivered good government. We have cleaned up the fiscal mess of the Mulroney years. We have acted to protect and sustain our social programs and we have put the economy on the right track.

We are beginning to see the results with low interest rates, growing consumer confidence, a good climate for growth and jobs.

Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lester B. Pearson, Canada's Prime Minister from 1963 to 1968.

Mr. Pearson had one of the most distinguished careers in Canadian political life. In 1957 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his leadership in establishing Canada as the world's peacekeeper.

Mike Pearson was a pragmatic, humble, decent consensus builder.

On Wednesday, April 23, it will give me great pleasure to join with my colleagues and my constituents in paying tribute to this great man at the Pearson Centennial Dinner at the National Arts Centre.

Lester Pearson was a leader who made Canada an even better place to live. To his family and friends, may his memory live with us forever.

Mr. Speaker, I hesitated until the last minute about making this speech. Should I, or should I not, bring up the words used by Bernard Landry the day before yesterday concerning our Prime Minister?

Should such an attack be allowed to pass without comment, so as not to attract more attention to it than it merits, or should it be vehemently objected to? The liberal principles and values to which I fully subscribe teach us not to counter an insult with another insult.

The Bernard Landrys of this world ought to realize that such an attack on the Prime Minister is an attack on the very foundations of the political institution. And then they turn around and moan about the lack of confidence and the cynicism people have toward politicians.

Mr. Speaker, reference has just been made to great Liberal principles.

The Corival construction company, of which Liberal Senator Pietro Rizzuto is a minority shareholder, has been fined $56,000 by the Quebec Court for major fraud. A Revenue Canada investigation has proven that the company of Rizzuto and his brother-in-law claimed four fictitious invoices totalling $198,000 as business expenses for tax purposes.

This is not the first time that Pietro Rizzuto, the Quebec campaign manager for the Liberal Party of Canada, has been involved in some funny business. During the 1993 election, he had promised jobs to all defeated Liberal candidates. Three and a half years later, 40 of those former Liberal candidates or MPs have jobs in the Chrétien government. It is therefore obvious what clout this man of few principles wields in a party that thumbs its nose at ethics and integrity.

The Liberals have just reminded us, once again, that where honest government is concerned, they are tarred with the same brush as the Conservatives. Their 1993 commitment to restore integrity was mere opportunism, and was not rooted in any real desire for change. Accordingly-

As members of Parliament we must acknowledge the tremendous contributions that many Canadians make in improving the lot of their fellow citizens. Time is one of our most precious commodities. It is important that all of us use this time effectively and efficiently.

Across Canada many Canadians budget some of their time in an effort to enhance their communities by serving on boards, in providing recreation, in coaching, with youth programs, in visiting the sick and providing services that would cost our communities

many thousands of dollars. Volunteerism, the offering of one's time to the community, offers all of us a tremendous contribution.

Today we salute these volunteers for their efforts and those people who offer their services to charities.

I would like to challenge all Canadians to reflect on this use of time and consider the importance of volunteerism.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Canadian Heritage released her plan for the Bow Valley, but in her haste to pander to the demands of some vocal special interest groups, she could well be cutting off access to, and quiet enjoyment of, the park for the elderly and disabled.

If the Bow Valley Parkway is closed to all automobile traffic, those who can no longer, or never could, hike or walk long distances, will be deprived of the opportunity to enjoy some birdwatching, a picnic lunch or a short stroll in an alpine meadow.

What is the use of a national park if it is reserved only for use by speciality hikers and those who do not mind being crammed into a crowded bus for a quick trip through the woods?

If speed or too much traffic is the problem, surely we could restrict the speed limit or the number of vehicles going through the Bow Valley Parkway each day. That is the way it is being done in the Grand Canyon national park.

On behalf of the regular users of the park who alerted me to this problem, I urge the heritage minister to please reject any complete closure of the Bow Valley Parkway. While she is at it, could she please confirm whether there is any truth to the rumour that she is building-

Mr. Speaker, with each passing day, ownership of Canada's daily papers and private television and radio stations are controlled by fewer and fewer people. Today, entire regions of the country get the news from daily papers owned by one large company. Conrad Black's Hollinger Incorporated now controls 60 per cent of Canada's daily newspapers and 43 per cent of Canada's coast to coast circulation. The consequences for democracy are severe.

When Conrad Black bought control of all Saskatchewan newspapers, 171 jobs were lost and specialized reporting on agriculture, health and civic politics fell 20 per cent of their previous levels.

The reaction of Liberals was to sit on their hands on the grounds that no commercial interests had been harmed. The silencing of dissenting voices, the limits on what we counted on as news did not trouble them.

But highly concentrated media ownership limits the free exchange of ideas and information among Canadians. What we need in this country are new rules to limit the concentration in the media and protect democracy. We need a Canada-

Mr. Speaker, for hundreds of years, even before Confederation, Canada has been a nation characterized by cultural diversity.

Our First Nations were joined by many newcomers who arrived from every nation on earth. Countless waves of pioneers and adventurers became united in an untiring effort to build a new land, proud to call itself home to the languages, arts, religions and traditions of the world.

These ancestors have left us a cultural heritage and diversity envied and respected throughout the global community.

When all Canadians grasp the gifts at hand that forge a bright future for our country, we will enter the third millennium as a cohesive, respectful nation, second to none.